Golf ball putting game

ABSTRACT

A golf ball putting game adapted for competitive indoor use by several players utilizes a portable elongated track positioned on a flat area, together with a conventional golf putter and balls. The track is fabricated of a material which can be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play and that has a surface texture suitable for putting golf balls. To begin play, one player putts a ball from a tee end to a far end of the track, followed in order by the remaining players. That order of play is repeated until each player has putted a selected number of balls to complete a round of play. The player who best ball lies closest to the terminal end of the track, within a playing area, wins that round and is awarded one point. A number of subsequent rounds are similarly played and scored to complete a game to determine a winner having the highest number of awarded points.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to golf ball putting games and, moreparticularly, to a portable game adapted for competitive use by two tofour players, typically, and that may be played indoors at any time,including those times of the year when adverse weather conditionsprevent avid golfers from playing conventional golf courses. Alternativenovel scoring systems serve to enhance the utility of the game.

In accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of theinvention, the present game utilizes an elongated rectangular track,defining a playing area, that is positioned on a flat surface, togetherwith a conventional golf putter and golf balls. The track is fabricatedof a material which can be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled forplay and that has a surface texture suitable for putting. Each player isgiven a like number of conventional golf balls at the beginning of thegame. Each player's balls are distinguishable from every other player'sballs, whether by color or surface nomenclature. The first player beginsby putting one ball toward a far end of the track and is followedsequentially by the remaining players. That order of play is repeateduntil every player has putted all of the balls initially received, thuscompleting a round of play. The player who putts one of his ballsclosest to the far end of the track, within the playing area, wins thatround and is awarded one point. A number of additional rounds aresimilarly subsequently played and scored to complete the game.

The track may be devoid of surface markings, or its surface may bemarked widthwise with lines that define an eagle area adjacent to thefar end of the track, a birdie area adjacent to and rearward of theeagle area, a par area adjacent to and rearward of the birdie area, anda bogey area adjacent to and rearward of the par area, to facilitate ascoring system alternative to that described in the preceding paragraph.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The drawing is a pictorial diagram illustrating a game participant usinga conventional golf putter and golf ball positioned on a portable track,representing a playing area, to play the golf ball putting game of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawing, an elongated track or runner 20 on which thegolf ball putting game of the present invention is played is positionedon a flat surface that may consist of an indoor floor area or an outdoorsidewalk or driveway, for example. Track 20 is rectangular in shape,having a length greater than its width. Typical dimensions of track 20may be approximately thirty inches wide and twenty feet long. A proximalend 40 of track 20 is herein referred to as the tee end, while thedistal end 34 is referred to as the far end, the rectangular surface oftrack 20 within the peripheral edges thereof being referred to as theplaying area. Track 20 is preferably fabricated of a material which canbe easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play. That materialshould have a texture suitable for putting a golf ball, such asindoor/outdoor carpeting or artificial turf made of polypropylene, forexample.

Track 20 may be devoid of surface markings. Alternatively, parallelstraight lines may be marked widthwise on the surface thereof, asillustrated, to define a rectangular eagle area 22 adjacent the far end34 of track 20, a rectangular birdie area 24 adjacent to and rearward ofeagle area 22, a rectangular par area 26 adjacent to and rearward ofbirdie area 24, and a rectangular bogey area 28 adjacent to and rearwardof par area 26, to facilitate an alternative scoring system described indetail below.

The game is preferably played by two to four players 100, each of whomis given a number of standard golf balls 120 at the beginning of eachround. Preferably, each player is given three balls in order to avoidthe congestion that would likely result from having more than twelveballs on track 20 at the end of each round, assuming that four playersare competing. Congestion resulting from too many balls on track 20 mayalso be avoided, in the case of more players, by initially giving eachplayer fewer balls. In the event that only a couple of players arecompeting, they may be given more than three balls, while still avoidingcongestion on the playing area. Each player's golf balls are of adifferent color than the other players' balls for the purpose ofdistinguishing them on track 20. Alternatively, each player's balls maycontain some distinguishing feature other than color.

To begin play, the first one of the players 100 places a ball 120 on atee area proximate the tee end 40 of track 20 and putts it toward thefar end 34 of track 20, using a conventional golf putter 110. The otherplayers, in sequence, then putt one of their balls. That sequence isrepeated until each of the players has putted all of the balls initiallyreceived, thus completing a round of play. The object of the game, as toeach of players 100, is to putt a ball 120 closest to the far end 34 oftrack 20 within the playing area. The successful player is deemed tohave won that round and is awarded one point. Additional rounds are thenplayed, each subsequent round beginning with the one of players 100 whoputted second in the previous round, the order of play otherwiseremaining the same from round to round. The player having the mostpoints, following completion of an agreed-upon number of rounds, winsthe game.

In the event a player's putted ball contacts another player's previouslyputted ball with sufficient force to knock that other player's restingball off track 20, the player whose ball was contacted is not awarded apoint, even though that player may have won the round had his ball notbeen knocked off track 20. However, the player whose ball impacted theother player's previously putted ball may win the round, depending onwhether the position of his ball following the impact is closer to thefar end 34 of track 20, within the playing area, than any other player'sball, at the end of the round.

The players 100 may choose an alternative scoring system, like that usedwhen playing conventional golf courses, utilizing the areas marked onthe surface of track 20, as illustrated in the drawing and describedabove, together with a blank scorecard from any golf course. Whenemploying that alternative scoring system, a round of play of thepresent golf ball putting game is considered as one hole on thescorecard. For example, if a player's best of three balls for the round(hole) lies within the birdie section of track 20, that player 100 isawarded the number of points associated with a birdie on the scorecard.A similar scoring result obtains with respect to the other markedsections of track 20, depending on the par value of each hole shown onthe golf course scorecard used. A nine or eighteen hole course may bevirtually played using this alternative scoring system.

I claim:
 1. A golf ball putting game playable by a selected number ofplayers, comprising: providing an elongated rectangular track having atee end and a far end, said track comprising a flexible material thatmay be easily rolled up for storage and unrolled for play, said trackbeing positioned on a flat surface, the surface area within theperiphery of said elongated rectangular track forming a rectangularplaying area; providing each player with a golf putting club; providingeach player with a like number of golf balls at the beginning of thegame, each player's golf balls being distinguishable in appearance fromevery other player's golf balls; initiating play of said golf ballputting game by each player, in order, putting a ball from said tee endof said track toward said far end of said track; repeating that order ofplay until each player has putted all of the golf balls provided at thebeginning of the game to thereby complete a first round of play;determining the winner of said first round of play to be the one of saidplayers having a best putted ball, the best putted ball being the onethat came to a final resting position within said playing area of saidtrack closest to said far end thereof; awarding the winner of said firstround one point; playing additional rounds of said golf ball puttinggame in a manner like said first round of play; and determining thewinner of said game to be the winner of a majority of the rounds played.2. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1, wherein each of saidadditional rounds played is commenced by the one of said selected numberof players who putted second in order in an immediately previous round,the order of play otherwise remaining the same from round to round.
 3. Agolf ball putting game as in claim 1, wherein said track is positionedon a flat indoor surface.
 4. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1,wherein said selected number of players is a selected one of two, three,and four players.
 5. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1, whereinsaid number of golf balls provided each player at the beginning of thegame is three.
 6. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1, wherein eachplayer's golf balls are of a different color than every other player'sgolf balls.
 7. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1, wherein adetermination of each player's best putted ball is made without regardfor whether said best putted ball came to its final resting position asa result of being putted by that player or as a result of beingsubsequently impacted and moved to that final resting position byanother player's putted ball.
 8. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1,wherein said track is fabricated of an indoor/outdoor carpet material.9. A golf ball putting game as in claim 1, wherein said track isfabricated of an artificial turf material.
 10. A golf ball putting gameplayable by a selected number of players, comprising: providing anelongated rectangular track having a tee end and a far end, said trackcomprising a flexible material that may be easily rolled up for storageand unrolled for play, said track being positioned on a flat surface,the surface area within the periphery of said elongated rectangulartrack forming a rectangular playing area, said rectangular playing areaincluding a plurality of contiguous marked scoring rectangles all havinga transverse width, said marked scoring rectangles mutually abuttingalong intermediate transverse edges, said edges defining straight linesperpendicular to a length of said rectangular playing area, a scoringarea of said rectangular playing area including an eagle scoringrectangle 22 adjacent to the far end 34 of track 20, a birdie rectangle24 adjacent to and rearward of eagle scoring rectangle 22, a par scoringrectangle adjacent to and rearward of birdie scoring rectangle 24, and abogey scoring rectangle 28 adjacent to and rearward of par scoringrectangle 26; assigning a first number of points to balls coming to restin said par scoring rectangle; assigning a second number of points toballs coming to rest in said birdie scoring rectangle, said secondnumber of points being one less than said first number of points;assigning a third number of points to balls coming to rest in said eaglescoring rectangle, said third number of points being two less than saidfirst number of points; assigning a fourth number of points to ballscoming to rest in said bogey scoring rectangle, said fourth number ofpoints being one more than said first number of points; providing eachplayer with a golf putting club; providing each player with a likenumber of golf balls at the beginning of the game, each player's golfballs being distinguishable in appearance from every other player's golfballs; initiating play of said golf ball putting game by each player, inorder, putting a ball from said tee end of said track toward said farend of said track; repeating that order of play until each player hasputted all of the golf balls provided at the beginning of the game tothereby complete a first hole of play; determining the number of pointsto be awarded to each player for said first hole of play, followingcompletion of said first hole of play, to be the number of pointsassigned to balls coming to rest in the scoring rectangle in which thatplayer's best putted ball came to rest; playing additional holes of saidgolf ball putting game in a like manner to that of said first hole; anddetermining the number of points to be awarded to each player for eachof said additional holes of play, following completion of each of saidadditional holes of play, to be the number of points assigned to ballscoming to rest in the scoring rectangle in which that player's bestputted ball came to rest; summing the number of points awarded to eachplayer for said first hole of play and all of said additional holes ofplay, following completion of a final one of said additional holes ofplay; awarding each player a total score equal to the result of thesummation of the number of points awarded that player for said firsthole of play and all of said additional holes of play; and determiningthe winner of said game to be the one of said players having the lowesttotal score.